Honour Killings or Dishonour Killings?

Today's newspapers again carry horrifying stories of killings supposedly called 'Honour Killings'. The question is what is honourable about these acts? To a mind like mine they seem to be bringing 'dishonour' upon society.
Not delving into specific stories, one would like to focus critically on the reasons behind such gruesome murders. Most of these murders are related to the institution of marriage, specifically inter-caste, inter-religion, same-gotra marriages. And the reasons are sociological. Migration to cities, swallowing up of villages by cities has led to a disintegration of certain customs and traditions which were taken for granted by the earlier generation. Exposure to western culture and changes in life style has brought about a change in the attitude of the younger generation. Working in offices of MNCs one is not bothered with issues of caste or gotra. The choice of a life partner in such cases is governed by emotional and intellectual needs. This is where the gap between the ones working in cities and with MNCs or other firms and those left behind in villages widens and what one can observe is a mental time gap. The latter take upon themselves the task of 'saving' traditions and customs which they feel are 'endangered' due to the influence of the west.
Thankfully the courts have again intervened asking the State Government (Haryana) to ensure that murders do not take place in the name of family or caste or clan honours! But for how long? How long will people lead a frightened life because they have broken some custom or norm accepted by their family?How long will they live under the shadow of fear that one day, their father or uncle or brother will kill them in the most gruesome way possible so as to set an example for others?
What again is needed is a change in outlook and approach. When will the people realize that the same law or rule can not be held true for all? It is not a crime if individual happiness comes before institutional happiness.

Comments

Professor Shanker Dutt said…
It is interesting to see how the troika of the freedom movement visualised the Indian village. For Gandhi the village was a site of authenticity, which he perceived to be the microcosm of Bharat. To Nehru, it was a site of backwardness and to the spade-should-be-called-a-spade Ambedkar, it was a site of oppression. Honour killings, one of the the most dishonourable of forms of culpable homicides, legitimates Ambedkar's ethical horror.
June 23, 2010 at 10:51 PM
Dr. Smriti Singh said…
While the recent episodes legitimate Ambedkar's view, urban India is more Nehruvian in thinking and are insensitive towards the incidents in rural areas. The benefits of education and urbanization need to be permeated to the grassroot level for wholesome development of the nation.
June 24, 2010 at 12:20 AM
priyanka said…
Very true ma'am!.. The India of cities may have become very developed but the villages are still trapped in the "pastness of the past." They are thinking of Post modernism, Post colonialism and saving the culture but how much culture is to be saved? This must be thought seriously.
June 24, 2010 at 8:09 AM
Professor Shanker Dutt said…
Urban India, in many cases, uses the resources of rural India to enrich itself at the cost of impoverishing the provider. The diaspora of the educated creates a cultural vacuum where such unacceptable practices are legitimated in the name of tradition.
June 27, 2010 at 9:46 PM
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